Political Philosophy and Justice

70. Robert Paul Wolff: In Defense of Anarchism

  1. What is Wolff’s argument for anarchism?
  2. Can political authority ever be justified? Can you imagine any situations in which political authority would be acceptable? Explain.

71. Thomas Hobbes: The Absolutist Answer: The Justification of the State Is the Security It Affords

  1. Do you agree with Hobbes’s view of human nature? Is self-interest the only motivation that people have in their dealings with one another?
  2. Are Hobbes’s absolutist view of government and democracy in conflict? Explain.

72. John Locke: The Democratic Answer: The Justification of the State Is Its Promotion of Security and Natural Human Rights

  1. How do Locke’s view of human nature and Hobbes’s view differ?
  2. What are the four limits on the legislative power that Locke proposes?

73. John Stuart Mill: A Classical Liberal Answer

  1. How would Mill’s principle of liberty apply to unpopular minorities who performed actions that the majority thought immoral (but not harmful)?
  2. What would Mill’s principle of liberty imply about the treatment of homosexuals, pagans, and pornographers?

74. John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer

  1. Rawls says that we do not deserve our natural talents and abilities. Do you agree? Why or why not?
  2. Do Rawls’s principles imply a “welfare state”? Explain.

75. Robert Nozick: Against Liberalism

  1. What is Nozick’s argument against liberalism? Do you accept it? Why or why not?
  2. How would Rawls reply to Nozick?

76. Martin Luther King Jr.: Nonviolence and Racial Justice

  1. What are the five points King makes about nonviolent resistance?
  2. King says that the universe is on the side of justice. Is this a realistic view? Why or why not?

77. Susan Moller Okin: Justice, Gender, and the Family

  1. Why, according to Okin, have women been left out of traditional theories of justice?
  2. Detail some of the men–women inequalities that Okin describes. In your view, how serious are these?

78. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women

  1. According to Wollstonecraft, how do men prevent women from reaching their full potential as intelligent human beings?
  2. What kind of “revolution in female manners” does Wollstonecraft envision?
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